TECTONIC SIGNIFICANCE OF OPHIOLITES

DEFINITION OF OPHIOLITE..
An ophiolite is a section of the Earth's oceanic crust and the underlying
uppermantle that has been uplifted and exposed above sea level and often emplaced
ontocontinental crustal rocks. Ophio is Greek for "snake", lite means "stone" from the
Greek lithos, after the often green-colored rocks (spilites and serpentinites) that make up many
ophiolites.

Stratigraphy of ophiolites

The stratigraphic sequence observed in ophiolites corresponds to the lithosphere-forming

processes at mid-oceanic ridges:

 Sediments: muds (black shale) and cherts deposited since the crust formed.
 Extrusive sequence: basaltic pillow lavas show magma/seawater contact.
 Sheeted dikes: vertical, parallel dikes which fed the pillow lavas above.
 High level intrusives: isotropic gabbro, indicative of fractionated magma chamber.
 Layered gabbro, resulting from settling out of minerals from a magma chamber.
 Cumulate peridotite: dunite-rich layers of minerals that settled out from a magma
chamber.
 Tectonized peridotite: harzburgite/lherzolite-rich mantle rock.
Research
Scientists have only drilled about 1.5 km into the 6–7 km thick oceanic crust, so their
understanding of oceanic crust largely comes from comparing ophiolite structure to seismic
soundings of in situ oceanic crust. Oceanic crust has a layered velocity structure that implies a
layered rock series similar that listed above. In detail there are problems, with many ophiolites
exhibiting thinner accumulations of igneous rock than are inferred for oceanic crust. Another
problem relating oceanic crust and ophiolites is that the thick gabbro layer of ophiolites calls for
large magma chambers beneath mid-ocean ridges. Seismic sounding of mid-ocean ridges has
only revealed a few magma chambers beneath ridges, and these are quite thin. A few deep drill
holes into oceanic crust have intercepted gabbro, but it is not layered like ophiolite gabbro.[citation
needed]

The circulation of hydrothermal fluid through young oceanic crust

causes serpentinization, alteration of the peridotites and alteration of minerals in the gabbros and
basalts to lower temperature assemblages. For example, plagioclase, pyroxenes, and olivine in
the sheeted dikes and lavas will alter to Albite, chlorite and serpentine, respectively.
Often, ore bodies such as iron-rich sulfide deposits are found above highly
altered epidosites (epidote-quartz rocks) that are evidence of (the now relict) black
smokers which continue to operate within the seafloor spreading centers of ocean ridges today.
[citation needed]
Thus there is reason to believe that ophiolites are indeed oceanic mantle and crust; however,
certain problems arise when looking closer. Compositional differences regarding silica (SiO2) and
titania (TiO2) contents, for example, place ophiolite basalts in the domain of subduction zones
(~55% silica, <1% TiO2), whereas mid-ocean ridge basalts typically have ~50% silica and 1.5-
2.5% TiO2. These chemical differences extend to a range of trace elements as well (that is,
chemical elements occurring amounts of 1000 ppm or less). In particular, trace elements
associated with subduction zone (island arc) volcanics tend to be high in ophiolites, whereas
trace elements that are high in ocean ridge basalts but low in subduction zone volcanics are also
low in ophiolites.[citation needed]

The crystallization order of feldspar and pyroxene in the gabbros is unexpectedly reversed, and
ophiolites also appear to have a multi-phase magmatic complexity on par with subduction zones.
Indeed, there is increasing evidence that most ophiolites are generated when subduction begins
and thus represent fragments of fore-arc lithosphere. This led to introduction of the term "supra-
subduction zone" (SSZ) ophiolite in the 1980s to acknowledge that some ophiolites are more
closely related to island arcs than ocean ridges. Ironically, some of the classic ophiolite
occurrences used to relate ophiolites to seafloor spreading (Troodos in Cyprus, Semail in Oman)
were found to be "SSZ" ophiolites, formed by rapid extension of fore-arc crust during subduction
initiation.[citation needed]

A fore-arc setting for most ophiolites also solves the otherwise perplexing problem of how oceanic
lithosphere can be emplaced on top of continental crust. It appears that continental crust, if
carried by the downgoing plate into a subduction zone, will jam it up and cause subduction to
cease, resulting in the rebound of the continental crust with forearc lithosphere (ophiolite) on top
of it. Ophiolites with compositions comparable with hotspot-type eruptive settings or normal mid-
oceanic ridge basalt are rare, and those examples are generally strongly dismembered in
subduction zone accretionary complexes

Ophiolite groups and assemblages

Most ophiolites can be divided into one of two groups: Tethyan and Cordilleran. Tethyan
ophiolites are characteristic of those that occur in the eastern Mediterranean sea area, e.g.,
Troodos in Cyprus and in the Middle East such as Semail in Oman, which consist of relatively
complete rock series corresponding to the classic ophiolite assemblage and which have been
emplaced onto a passive continental margin more or less intact (Tethys is the name given to the
ancient sea that once separated Europe and Africa). Cordilleran ophiolites are characteristic of
those that occur in the mountain belts of western North America (the "Cordillera" or backbone of
the continent). These ophiolites sit on subduction zone accretionary complexes (subduction
complexes) and have no association with a passive continental margin. These include the Coast
Range ophiolite of California, the Josephine ophiolite of the Klamath Mountains (California,
Oregon), and ophiolites in the southern Andes of South America. Despite their differences in
mode of emplacement, both types of ophiolite are exclusively SSZ in origin. [6]

Ophiolite assemblages in the Alps and some other collisional mountain belts are not formed
during subduction, but rather represent the thinned margin of the continent that forms during
rifting and continental drift. This incipient ocean crust remains locked to the continental margin
when the ocean basin closes, emplacing the incipient ocean crust into the collision zone.[citation
needed]

Interestingly, the age of ophiolite formation is often surprisingly close to the age of their
emplacement into the continental crust. Ophiolites are found in all the major mountain belts of the
world whether collisional (e.g. Himalayas) or not (e.g. Andes). The subduction-related chemistry
of ophiolites and their association with mountain belts suggests that their formation and
emplacement are related to oceanic closure and continental collision (final stages of the Wilson
Cycle) rather than oceanic opening and seafloor spreading as was first thought.[citation needed]

Furthermore, the occurrence of ophiolites throughout Earth history is not constant but rather they
were formed and emplaced at specific intervals. These intervals correspond closely to times of
super-continent break-up and dispersal—not because they form at the ridges that separate the
drifting continents, but because the large ocean basin that must coexist with any super-continent
must subduct along new subduction zones as rifting progresses.[citation needed]

Examples of ophiolites

Examples of ophiolites include:

 Zambales Ophiolite in western Luzon, Philippines

 Internal Ligurian Ophiolites in Northern Apennines, Italy
 Angat Ophiolite in eastern Luzon, Philippines
  Semail Ophiolite in Oman and the United Arab Emirates
 Troodos Ophiolite in the Troodos Mountains of Cyprus
 Kizildag Ophiolite, southern Turkey
 Jormua Ophiolite in Finland
 Vourinos and Pindos Ophiolites in Northern Greece
 Betts Cove, St. Anthony, Little Port, Advocate, Gander River, Pipestone Pond, Great
Bend and Annieopsquotch ophiolites in Newfoundland
 Bay of Islands Ophiolite in Gros Morne National Park, Newfoundland, named
a UNESCOWorld Heritage Site in 1987 because of its superbly exposed complete ophiolite
stratigraphic sequence
 Lizard complex in Cornwall, United Kingdom
 Josephine Ophiolite in Southern Oregon
 Coast Range, Smartville, and Klamath Mountains of northern California
 Point Sal ophiolite, Santa Barbara County, central California
 Papuan ophiolite in Papua New Guinea
 Yakuno, Horokanai, and Poroshiri, three full ophiolite sequences in Japan
 Ballantrae Ophiolite Complex, Girvan-Ballantrae area, SW Ayrshire, Scotland
 Dun Mountain Ophiolite Belt, South Island, New Zealand
 Payson Ophiolite, Payson, Arizona
 Canyon Mountain and Sparta Complexes, NE Oregon
 Metchosin Igneous Complex, southern Vancouver Island, British Columbia, Cana

Significance of ophiolites
Their great significance relates to their occurrence within mountain belts such as the Alps or the
Himalayas, where they document the existence of former ocean basins that have now been
consumed by subduction. This insight was one of the founding pillars of plate tectonics, and
ophiolites have always played a central role in plate tectonic theory and the interpretation of
ancient mountain belts.

Refrences
 Brogniart, A. (1813) "Essai de classifacation mineralogique des roches
melanges" Journal des Mines, v. XXXIV, 190-199.
 Gass, I.G. (1968) "Is the Troodos massif of Cyprus a fragment of Mesozoic ocean
floor?" Nature, 220, 39-42.
 Church, W.R. and Stevens, R.K. (1970) "Early Paleozoic ophiolite complexes of the
Newfoundland Appalachians as mantle-oceanic crust sequences." Journal of Geophysical
Research, 76, 1460-1466.
 Coleman, R.G. (1977) "Ophiolites: Ancient Oceanic Lithosphere?" Springer Verlag, 229
pp.
 Encarnacion, J. (2004) "Multiple ophiolite generation preserved in the northern
Philippines and the growth of an island arc complex" Tectonophysics, 392, 103-130.
 Moores E.M. and Vine, F.J. (1971) "The Troodos massif, Cyprus, and other ophiolites as
oceanic crust: Evaluation and implications"Philosophical Transactions of the Royal Society of
London, 268A, 443-466.
 Moores, E.M. (2003) "A personal history of the ophiolite concept" in Dilek and Newcomb,
editors, Ophiolite Concept and the Evolution of Geologic Thought. Geological Society of
America Special Publication 373